At each of East Lansing's numerous summer festivals, international food reigns king. Unfortunately there are few quality international restaurants in the area, so many of the stands are not affiliated with local restaurants. One of the exceptions is Altu's, a local Ethiopian restaurant with fabulous food. I love seeing the Altu's stand at each festival because I had my first Ethiopian experience there, and was introduced to injera, a traditional flatbread made with teff flour.

Of course this new grain intrigued me when I heard about it, so I decided to keep an eye out for teff grains. There's a spot on the shelf for teff at the local natural foods store, but it was never in stock. I finally came across some a few weeks ago, and was excited to try it out. Other than using teff flour for injera and gluten-free breads, I have only seen recipes for teff porridge and teff polenta. I went for the porridge.

Combine teff and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and let simmer until the water is absorbed (about 20 min), stirring occasionally. Stir in butter and cinnamon and top with berries. To reheat, add a splash of water and stir well, breaking up clumps, before microwaving. Serves 4.

This was fabulous! I highly recommend adding the cinnamon - it took it from good to great. I've heard people say that teff tastes like chocolate, and I can see how someone could come to that conclusion, but I'm not sure that I would have thought of it on my own. It's extremely filling because it's very high in protein and fiber. I think that this will become a regular in my porridge rotation, and I can't wait to try teff in other ways. Does anybody have any suggestions??

12 comments:

This looks simple and wonderful. I have some teff sitting in my pantry, but I've been too much of a wuss to dare homemade injera. I think I've found an easy way out. :) But how sad that you listed butter as optional!

parsnips aplenty - I'm too scared to try injera, too. Perhaps we should both give it a shot one of these days, but until then, I highly recommend this :). Believe me, butter was not optional in my bowl. But I figured that I should make it optional for the vegans.

Cool! I have teff and tried to make cookies once with it and they fell apart so I got discouraged and it's just hanging out in my pantry as well. I'm totally going to make your porridge...found you on healthyyum:)

If you are making a porridge, I highly reccomend roasting the teff first (just let it cook over medium heat for a few minutes before you add the water and bring it to a boil). Your whole kitchen will fill with this delicious nutty smell and the teff once roasted is even more irresistable!

I never add dairy to my morning teff! I do add some frozen peaches or other fruit, cinnamon and DON'T forget to add some salt to the water. I usually top it off with a little honey.

I also sometimes make a savory version (onion, garlic, salt and pepper) for my husband I usually cool it until it's thinkly gelled, slice it up and fry on med-high heat in a small amount of olive oil. If you sort of deep fry it it's spectacular (but not very healthy)!